• Ilona Kaczmarczyk-Sedlak, Joanna Folwarczna, Lech Sedlak, Maria Zych, Weronika Wojnar, Iwona Szumińska, Dorota Wyględowska-Promieńska, and Ewa Mrukwa-Kominek.
• Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland.
• Arch Med Sci. 2019 Jul 1; 15 (4): 107310801073-1080.

IntroductionOne of the major causes of cataract in diabetes is oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Nowadays, new substances with antioxidative properties that may prevent cataract development are needed. One such substance is caffeine - an alkaloid with well-documented antioxidative activity.Material And MethodsThe study was conducted on lenses obtained from female rats, divided into 3 groups: control rats; diabetic rats; diabetic rats treated with caffeine at a dose of 20 mg/kg p.o. Type 1 diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (60 mg/kg i.p.). After 4 weeks of caffeine administration, the rats were sacrificed, and the lenses were collected, weighed and homogenized in PBS. The homogenate was used for analysis of protein content, glutathione (GSH) concentration, advanced oxidation protein product (AOPP) concentration, malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx).ResultsThe SOD, CAT and GPx activities were found to be higher in the lenses of diabetic rats. There were also increased MDA and AOPP concentrations as well as decreased GSH concentration. The administration of caffeine resulted in decreased activity of SOD, CAT and GPx. The treatment with caffeine also caused an increase of GSH concentration and a decrease of MDA and AOPP concentrations.ConclusionsThe results of the present study may be of relevance in determining the effect of caffeine on the processes induced by ROS in vivo. Further, they can be an indication for clinical observations aiming at the assessment of both preventive and therapeutic effects of caffeine in cataract.

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